• Complete 2020-21 OVC Men's Golf Award Winners (PDF) | Photo Gallery
MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala. – Belmont senior
Evan Davis was named the OVC Player of the Year on Saturday night on the eve of the 2021 OVC Men’s Golf Championship. The event is being held at The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at The Shoals in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
In additional voting, Belmont’s
Reeve Felner was named OVC Freshman of the Year while UT Martin first-year head coach
Austin Swafford was named OVC Coach of the Year. The All-OVC and All-Newcomer squads were also announced at the event.
Davis is the second Belmont player to be named Player of the Year, joining Ashton Van Horne from 2016. Davis is the top-ranked OVC golfer in the GolfStat National Rankings and in five events this year had four top three finishes including a medalist victory. Over his five tournaments he had a 70.47 stroke average, including a round of 65 at the Murray State Invitational.
Felner is the second Belmont player named OVC Freshman of the Year, joining Daniel Booker (2016), who is now an assistant coach with the program. In 15 rounds this spring he averaged 73.13 strokes per round, which was 12th overall in the OVC. He had one top 10 and two additional top 15 finishes.
Swafford became the second UT Martin individual to be named OVC Coach of the Year, joining Jerry Carpenter (2014, 2016). A former Skyhawk player, Swafford took over the program before the season and led the team to four first-place and one second-place finishes in six total events. The team also had a combined stroke average of 286.7, which was tops in the OVC. Currently the second-youngest coach in Division I men’s golf (trailing on Wagner’s Nick Drago by 9 days), Swafford is just the fourth OVC coach to win this award in his first season, and the first to do so since 1984. Swafford, who earned All-OVC honors as a player in 2017, joins Eastern Kentucky’s Pat Stephens as the only men to garner both an All-OVC mention as a student-athlete and an OVC Coach of the Year honor.
The 10-member All-OVC team was comprised of six seniors, two juniors and two freshmen. The team included five repeat selections in Davis, UT Martin junior
Nick Wolf, Jacksonville State senior
Jesus Montenegro, Morehead State senior
Joe Muschong and UT Martin senior
Jack Story. The team was rounded out by JSU senior
Maximo Portais, UT Martin junior
Tate Chumley, Austin Peay senior
Austin Lancaster, Belmont’s Felner and Tennessee Tech freshman
Mark McDearman.
Felner, the OVC Freshman of the Year, headlined the five-person All-Newcomer squad. He was joined by TTU’s McDearman, SIUE senior
Zak Butt and freshman
TJ Baker and Murray State freshman
Tyler Powell.
The 2021 OVC Men’s Golf Championship begins with 18 holes on Sunday and continues through Tuesday. Live scoring can be accessed through links at OVCSports.com.
2020-21 OVC Men’s Golf Award Winners
OVC Player of the Year: Evan Davis, Belmont
OVC Freshman of the Year: Reeve Felner, Belmont
OVC Coach of the Year: Austin Swafford, UT Martin
2020-21 All-OVC Men’s Golf Team
Evan Davis, Belmont
Nick Wolf, UT Martin
Jesus Montenegro, Jacksonville State
Maximo Portais, Jacksonville State
Tate Chumley, UT Martin
Joe Muschong, Morehead State
Jack Story, UT Martin
Austin Lancaster, Austin Peay
Reeve Felner, Belmont
Mark McDearman, Tennessee Tech
2020-21 OVC All-Newcomer Team
Reeve Felner, Belmont
Mark McDearman, Tennessee Tech
Zak Butt, SIUE
TJ Baker, SIUE
Tyler Powell, Murray State